Rachel Riley's currency countdown as Britons lose £288m a year over poor maths

More than a third of UK holidaymakers are losing out on a staggering £288 million a year due to poor mathematical skills over exchange rates, research has revealed.

A Post Office report reveals that 44 per cent of Britons fail to calculate the actual cost of goods and services when they are abroad and one in three (27 per cent) bust the budget.

Formula for success: Rachel Riley

The survey also shows that 17 per cent of people prefer a getaway in a country where they can grasp the currency, while nearly 1.5 million purposefully avoid places with unfamiliar money due to the complication and stress involved in working out the currency.

Despite its stellar rise as a budget holiday destination, Turkey and its lira is top of the list for confusing currencies as almost half of people (49 per cent) surveyed were unable to translate it into sterling.

The research also showed that 35 per cent of holidaymakers struggled with US dollars and 26 per cent were not able to convert the Euro.

As a result, the Post Office has recruited Countdown maths expert Rachel Riley to help advise holidaymakers on how to make the most of their holiday currency.

Rachel said: 'My boyfriend's sister went to Bali recently and she couldn't remember what the exchange rate was. She thought it was five or six thousand rupiahs to the pound and it turned out to be around 16,000.

'Half way through the holiday she thought everything was massively expensive and was counting the pennies and bartering. It turns out she was arguing over pennies and got it totally wrong. She then went on a spending spree.'

Rachel added that some people fail to understand the currency values they are reading. She said: 'If they see 1.54 for the dollar, they don't know if that's 1.54 pounds to the dollar or dollars to the pound. You've got to know which way you are doing it.'

The 23-year-old mathematician from Southend-on-Sea said she had fallen foul of not doing the research to make the most of your holiday cash.

'I went to Barbados and we bought all our money before we went and didn't do our research.

Confused: Currency conversion can leave holidaymakers baffled

'It turned out that if we had bought US dollars it would have been a much cheaper experience. I would have saved quite a lot of money.'

Luckily, the Oxford graduate has some words of advice - and simple formulae (below) which can be used to work out some popular currencies.

Rachel said: 'Working out how much things cost on holiday doesn’t have to be time consuming or confusing. To help avoid overspending, make a note of the exchange rate when you buy your currency and use my easy to remember formulae for working out some of the most popular currencies.'

Another piece of advice is to haggle, she says.

'In Thailand I was trying to work out how much something was, doing the sums in my head and they thought I was trying to barter. They thought I was thinking: 'this is expensive' and so they lowered the price.'

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She said: 'I stayed in a hotel in London and when I got there they said there was a problem with the rooms and only had one with wet paint or one with a leak.

'I took the one with the wet paint but the man said they would give me a 20 per cent discount. It was £189 and he said, 'how does £165 sound?'

'I said, 'It doesn't really - that's not 20 per cent.'

Rachel added: 'He stood there trying to work it out and in the end he gave me £40 off. When it comes to money I'm keeping a check on things.'

RACHEL'S TOP TIPS

Make a note of the exchange rate – it sounds simple but many of us change our money and then forget the rate we bought it at. Keep a note in your purse or wallet and use this as your reference when working out how much things cost. Write the equivalents for £1, £5, £10 and so on and use as a rough reference guide.

Use your phone – make the most of the portable calculator that most of us have in our mobile phones. If you are struggling to work something out, you can do it quickly on your phone. For those who want something more advanced, you can buy special currency converters and calculators.

Don’t pay in sterling– don’t be tempted to pay in sterling on your card or in cash as shops and restaurants can charge their own exchange rate which is unlikely to be competitive. You can also get stung by added fees of up to four per cent.

Haggling – in lots of popular destinations like Turkey and Morocco, bartering is part of the culture. Do your research before you go and if you’re going somewhere where bartering is acceptable, don’t be afraid to offer the merchant the price that you are willing to pay.

Try a pre-paid travel card – pre-paid cards like the Post Office Travel Money Card enable you to load your card with currency when the exchange rate is good. You can then use this as you would your bank card and it helps act as your own budgeting tool to ensure you don’t spend more than you have loaded onto the card. The Travel Money Card is completely separate from your bank account too so it’s a secure way of taking money abroad.

Don't get your currency at the airport or get it when you get out there - you won't get a good exchange rate.

Rachel’s currency conversion formulae (based on rates for 24 June 2009) Euro - Take one tenth off for sterling

The current euro exchange rate is around 1.13 so the easiest way to work this out in pounds is to take away one tenth of the price in euros.

US dollar - Double dollars then take a third

The current US dollar exchange rate is 1.59 so doubling the number of dollars and dividing by three gets you to sterling.

Turkish lira - Lira times two times two, then divide by ten

The Turkish Lira is at around 2.5 for one pound which is approximately multiplying by four (or doubling twice) and then dividing by 10.

Thai baht - Doubling your baht equals price in pennies

For the Thai baht it's 52.8 to the pound so doubling this is approximately the price in pence.

Egyptian pound - Halve three times

The Egyptian pound is 8.3 to the British pound so halving the number of Egyptian pounds three times is the easiest way to work that out.

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Rachel Riley's currency countdown as Britons lose £288m a year over poor maths